


Where you end and I begin

by mugen, nautilics



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Alternate History, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Late 19th Century, Boarding School, Implied Akaashi Keiji/Bokuto Koutarou, M/M, Magic School, Magical Bond, Mild Political Content, POV Alternating, Tournaments, Training
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-09-30
Updated: 2016-09-30
Packaged: 2018-08-16 08:18:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,446
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8094811
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mugen/pseuds/mugen, https://archiveofourown.org/users/nautilics/pseuds/nautilics
Summary: Fighter-in-training Kuroo Tetsurou had a plan for his last year at the prestigious Otodani Academy, a plan that included graduating at the top of his class and getting bonded with his best friend as the best fighter-mage pair the school has ever seen, but statistics and most likely politics got in the way. Now he has to navigate getting to know his new partner, ignoring his growing crush on him all while training for the nation-wide Grand Magical Tournament.
Mage-in-training Kozume Kenma never wanted to draw much unnecessary attention to himself, but it all went south with him being matched to the best friend of the crown prince as an underclassman. He had never dreamed of being swept off by the world of politics, ignorant but charming rich boys and even higher competition than with regular class rankings, and family obligations.
(In which there’s a tournament, lots of magical training, the awkward beginnings of crushes, and friendship.)





	

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you [Mitsy](http://mitsouparker.tumblr.com) and [Lou](http://shrimp.co.vu) for the cheering and support, [Kay](http://archiveofourown.org/users/OnlyGirlInYourWorld) for the preread, and my eternal gratitude goes to Rev for the beta and Rae for naming this fic. Thank you Mandy, my collab partner, for being so patient and supportive.
> 
> To the mods: thank you for organizing this fest! It was definitely challenging but super fun.
> 
> \- Em / mugen
> 
> ([playlist](http://8tracks.com/lunamin/8309719))

 

 

 

The school was buzzing with the news of the Grand Magical Tournament. Tetsurou knew about it for months, as the friend of the Emperor’s son he was in the know of quite a lot of things so the Dean’s announcement at the entrance ceremony didn’t come as a surprise for him. The fact that the Tournament happened this year was surprising in itself, because it was anticipated for next year. Not even his best friend had inside information, and there wasn’t an official explanation, so naturally the entirety of Otodani Academy was gossiping and speculating. The most popular theory was the Emperor pulling strings because his son was in his senior year.

As for the Tournament itself, every fighter over the age of eighteen was eligible to participate as long as they had a mage partner so that meant three grades—about 120 students to choose the ten champions from. Tetsurou was not looking forward to the eventual power struggles and backstabbings. Pressure about performing well did that to quite a lot of people.

Tetsurou dodged a few lower years as he hurried to the dorms of the mages. At Otodani fighters like Tetsurou weren’t technically allowed in mage-only spaces, but as he was in his senior year he knew all the tricks to avoiding the school wardens to sneak into the dorms.

At the entrance of the mage dorms he spotted a classmate, Yaku Morisuke who was still in his formal uniform. Besides him stood a lanky boy with silvery white hair; he was bouncing on his feet which made him look even taller and poor Yaku shorter. He was in unfamiliar formal clothes, but if Tetsurou had to take a guess it must have been Russian. He waved at them. Yaku made a face behind the foreigner boy’s back, but the kid flashed him a friendly grin. He was cute, in the way puppies were.

“G’morning,” he greeted them. It would have been rude not to stop to chat a little in the presence of a guest so Tetsurou went over to them.

“Lev, this is Kuroo Tetsurou, one of the best fighters in our grade. Kuroo, this is Haiba Lev, Ambassador Haiba’s son.” So that’s why it was Yaku who accompanied the transfer student, Tetsurou thought. Yaku’s father worked at the Embassy to Russia, so naturally he was the one who got stranded with babysitting the son of his father’s boss.

“Nice to meet you, Haiba-kun.”

“Lev is fine!” the boy said with a little bow then he grabbed Tetsurou’s hand and shook it violently.

“I hope your stay in our school is enjoyable,” Tetsurou said, trying to pry his hand from the boy’s firm grip.

“I love it! Can’t wait to start classes. Yaku-san showed me the schedule, they all look amazing.” He glanced at Lev’s earnest expression. He always knew when a rant was coming and this was exactly the time. He needed to make an excuse, and he needed to do it quickly.

“I’m really sorry but I have to go,” he said, gesturing in the direction of the mage dorms. But before he could make up something, Lev interrupted.

“But you’re a fighter like Yaku-san, aren’t you? Don’t you need a badge?”

The kid was technically right, and Yaku was indeed wearing a badge that let him into every mage-only space, but not having one never stopped Tetsurou. He put a finger to his lips then winked.

“It’s a secret!”

He turned around and walked into the dormitory wing before Yaku could shout at him. He barely stepped inside when there was a shriek that roughly resembled “Tetsu” and he found himself with an armful of Bokuto Koutarou. He wobbled under the boy’s weight at first, but regained his balance after a few seconds and hugged his best friend back.

“We saw each other less than a week ago, Kou.” He chuckled and patted his friend’s back.

Koutarou dragged him to his room in silence. Tetsurou hoped the gossip mill was slower this time and the rumors hadn’t reached his friend, but it was just wishful thinking. Otodani Academy was filled with a bunch of filthy gossips. Usually he didn’t blame them much, because being stuck in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere on the top of Mt. Fukuzawa wasn’t the most interesting, so they had to amuse themselves somehow. But when said rumors included Koutarou or his family, Tetsurou was mad.

“Do you think it’s true?” Koutarou asked when he sat down on his bed. He was quiet, much quieter than Tetsurou liked. “That Father is the reason why the Tournament is this year?”

Tetsurou sat down next to him and bumped their shoulders together.

“I don’t think so. I mean this required a lot of arrangement between the eight Domains and the full cooperation of so many schools. I’m sorry for saying this, Kou, but I really don’t think your father could do all of this.”

Tetsurou knew the real reason was of political nature, but he highly doubted the Emperor had the influence to orchestrate a national event of this calibre. There were talks about the Governor of the Touhoku Domain getting power hungry, and he didn’t quite know what to make out of the presence of the son of an Ambassador at Otodani, but he was sure both were related. Not that he was going to tell his best friend this.

Koutarou rarely talked about how the royal family was something only for show and in spite of that how much pressure he was under since birth as the crown prince. Tetsurou was familiar with the side effects: the self doubt, the frequent lack of motivation, how a slight setback could make him spiral into insecurity and dejection. Tetsurou wanted to prevent that so he quickly changed topics.

“Tomorrow’s our final evaluation. Are you ready?”

Koutarou grinned and slapped Tetsurou on the back with more force than necessary.

“More than ready!” he said. “In a week we’re gonna be officially seiryo!”

Tetsurou grinned back. He knew he was going to be matched up with Koutarou because during spring break they had a very unofficial (and slightly illegal) magical wavelength examination at Kou’s home just for fun. Their magical compatibility was 88% which counted as one of the highest percentages that could be achieved without the two involved parties being blood related in any way so them partnering up was basically set in stone. Now they only needed to be paired up in the official matchings which happened during the first week of sixth year.

“I saw Yaku by the way,” Tetsurou said. “He’s babysitting the ambassador’s kid. He didn’t look too happy about it.”

Koutarou laughed. “I saw them at an event before, they make quite the comedic duo.”

“So Yaku’s stuck with this kid regularly?”

“More or less.”

Tetsurou carefully avoided the topic of the Tournament the whole afternoon. He did not want to upset Koutarou any further. They gossiped about the matchings instead and tried to guess the future seiryo partners. He couldn’t have been in the dorms for an hour before Yaku came and kicked him out.

 

 

 

The evaluation started first thing in the morning. They were allowed only a light breakfast then the sixth years were ushered into a large classroom. Their grade was a smaller one with only 37 students. There were more fighters than mages which meant there were going to be students dropping out or being held back a year. Cross-grade seiryo matchings happened from time to time but no one was counting on that.

Otodani itself was a place for high competition. Their school was the best in the Kanto Domain; every student had to go through vigorous tests to get into the academy at the age of fifteen and that was just the start of the ruthless competition for class rankings. Plenty of students came from low income backgrounds whose only chance to get a better status is to enlist to the military after graduation as an ensign. The top five graduating students were offered the rank lieutenant and a high pay if they joined the army right after school.

The tension in the air made even Tetsurou restless. Koutarou was a big bundle of nerves next to him, his legs bouncing and his gaze darting from one group to the other. Even after five full years of schooling most of their grade was vary of each other. Besides Koutarou and him there were only a few fighters and mages who sat together. Kai and Konoha were quietly talking with each other on Tetsurou’s other side and there was a group of three girls, a fighter and two mages. The fighter girl, Miyanoshita, was related to one mage and she was dating the other.

“I wonder how the matching will go for them,” Tetsurou mused out loud. Koutarou didn’t seem to hear it. He tapped Kou lightly on the arm to ground him. “Everything will be okay,” he said, once he was sure he got his attention.

“I know,” Koutarou said. “It’s just…”

“People are garbage. They gossip about you when you have a bad hair day.”

That made Koutarou laugh. “Since when do _you_ have good hair days?”

“That was a rude and unnecessary comment, my friend.” _But not unwelcome_ , Tetsurou didn’t add.

“Where’s Yaku?”

“Still babysitting the kid, I presume. It’s not like he’s not one of the last people to be called either way.”

The first one to go was a mage girl. Tetsurou knew Koutarou hated that they went by alphabetical order because it was Tetsurou’s turn earlier and he had to wait a lot for his turn. The last time they had a magical wavelength examination was in January, but the official final evaluation was a old school tradition so no one was allowed to skip it or postpone it. Every sixth year was required to attend it now that every student in their grade turned twenty years old. Last time the fighters and mages were split up to two days, keeping them separated like almost always. The founders of Otodani didn’t exactly believe in equal treatment or letting the two classes mix. With so many mage-only spaces one would led to believe all of that was for the sake of the mages-in-training but it was the opposite: mage students were separated from the general population to protect the fighters, school staff and teachers.

He learned the truth the first time he met Bokuto Koutarou, before he even knew of his status. The older students warned him about a kid with silver and black hair who had an incident before the entrance ceremony could even start: he got into a fight with a couple of upperclassmen because they were bullying a first year mage and back then Koutarou still had a lot of problems keeping his feelings in check in order not to ooze magic every time he got excited or angry. After the ceremony Tetsurou went to explore the campus and found the student he heard so many rumors about alone, curled up in a corner of the library trying not to cry and on a whim he decided to befriend him. Tetsurou never got as many infuriating, bigoted advice about staying as far as he could from mages before their final year when they take the mandatory oath not to harm each other at any given time.

When Kai was called Tetsurou grabbed Koutarou’s hand and held onto it. The hairs on his arm were standing up because of the slight magic the boy was emitting. Tetsurou had no idea what he might have heard before they met up in the cafeteria, but he was distracted during breakfast as well.

“What if we don’t end up together?” Koutarou muttered.

“It’s gonna be fine. It’s almost impossible to get a better rate than ours.”

“Wait for me after?”

“Will do, Kou, will do.”

When a magical examination official called his name, he patted Koutarou’s knee then squeezed his hand one more time.

The examination was done in a room that was built for exactly this purpose. The woman, who was dressed in a gray kimono and a mask, lead him through three corridors to an antechamber with a magical barrier. The strength of the barrier hit him so hard he almost tripped, even though he knew it was coming.

Every student had to go through the wavelength examination three times a year, regardless whether they were magic users or not. Even fighters, who were officially non-magic users had their own magical wavelength. For the fighters’ examination the committee assessed how sensitive they were to magic and which type of magic were they compatible with. The mages’ were longer and different: he had heard about it from Koutarou. They examined the student’s magical strength, assessed various statistical data from their practical classes and tested them regarding that.

Tetsurou had to wait a few minutes in the antechamber in silence, with only the examination official there. The room itself was plain, there wasn’t much to look at and his skin was still prickling because of the magical barrier. Tetsurou hated this kind of magic, the one that invaded every space and made everyone on edge with how unnatural its presence was. Koutarou’s magic never did this; his blended into the aura of the place, transforming it into something beautiful.

Tetsurou just wanted to be done with it. He hated magical picking and prodding, and people messing with his aura. His name was called again when another masked woman stepped into the room. Tetsurou sighed and followed her.

The examination room looked exactly the same as last time: wide, open spaces with invisible magical lines. There were three people from the school present, two teachers and the Dean and about a dozen of masked officials.

The examination was done in complete silence. By their final, sixth year everyone expected the students to know the procedure: sit in front of the teachers, stay still when they cast a few spells on you and try not to panic when the crude magic invaded your body. Tetsurou had spells cast on him by Koutarou and it definitely didn’t feel like this: invasion, coldness, leaving him feeling he was violated. These exams most definitely didn’t help the magic users’ general reputation.

He never knew how much time it passed during the exams, because the magical barrier messed with almost all of his senses. He knew it was painful for him because the magic he was compatible with was of an entirely different nature; other fighters had a more pleasant experience, he knew that from talking with some classmates. But it was over soon enough. When the procedure deemed complete he was lead to a different door.

Crossing another plain antechamber he arrived to a corridor on the other side of the West Tower. The corridor was deserted since this was not a part of the castle students frequented. He knew there weren’t going to be many classmates who would stick around to wait for others. Some, like Miyanoshita, were related. There was another set of fighter-mage cousins who were expected to be paired up and they had a sibling pair who were born only ten months apart so they were in the same year.

Next up was Konoha who had a better experience than Tetsurou; they chatted a little after he was done. The students were coming steadily at every ten to fifteen minutes, but it was still a long time before it was Koutarou’s turn.

Tetsurou started pacing. After annoying even himself he resorted to watching students on the grounds. About a dozen of fighters were sparring and far from them there were a few groups of mages huddled close together and some of them sitting alone, practicing magic. Most students were in class, but some grades had free periods.

The main gardens were a beautiful thing, an intricate set of fountains and a small river going through, with colorful stones and a big pond with shadow koi, but regular students were rarely allowed there. The main grounds had a couple of hundred trees, most of them cherry trees that were almost in full bloom.

A group of five mages were sitting under one tree and they were playing with the fallen petals. One did a small whirlwind, another made animal shapes out of them. They were probably second years. Tetsurou smiled.

Magic was beautiful. Anyone who denied that never truly saw magic in the works, they were just prejudiced, giving in to centuries old, ingrained fear. They were rarely the people who firsthand experienced the aftermath of accidental magic. Magic was also terrifying, but there was a difference between prejudice and actual fear. Tetsurou knew the bone-chilling terror when you’re unarmed without any protection and a magic user might accidentally unleash their powers, he experienced it way much before getting into Otodani.

Tetsurou felt somebody approaching before he saw who it was.

“Hey, Akaashi,” he greeted the boy who stopped next to him.

“Hello, Kuroo-san. Already done with the evaluation?”

“Yeah. I’m just waiting for Kou but it’s almost his turn now.”

The fighter boy nodded and left without saying anything else. Tetsurou knew a lot of his fighter underclassmen, and Akaashi was a promising student, with sharp intellect and keen observational skills and, what’s even more important, he didn’t have an unpleasant personality like so many of the fighters in general. He wasn’t nice per say, but he wasn’t a suckup and Tetsurou had always appreciated blunt honesty.

A few minutes later Bandou, the mage before Koutarou, was finished and they waved shyly at Tetsurou so he waved back with a smile.   _It’s Kou’s turn now_ , Tetsurou thought and against his better judgment he started to pace again. He hated waiting with every fiber of his being. He was very well aware everything was gonna go all right, they’re pretty much set as seiryo, no amount of new examinations could change their compatibility rate, he _knew_ this, but he still couldn’t calm down. He willed himself to stop and held his body still. _It’s gonna go swimmingly, stop worrying, Tetsurou_ , he scolded himself.

It felt like an eternity before the screen door opened and Koutarou appeared, grinning.

“I took a glimpse and every statistic is the same as during the break!” he announced, and his voice echoed in the empty corridor. Tetsurou didn’t even care that Kou just admitted an illegal examination out loud in public. “I feel like taking a nap now, it was that draining.”

“Let’s grab an early lunch and see if we can squeeze in a nap.”

“Good idea.”

 

 

“Stop fussing,“ Koutarou said and Tetsurou rolled his eyes. Kou was an overexcited ball of nerves while Tetsurou only felt a headache coming.

“I just can’t tie this damn obi right,” he gritted out. The silk of the obi was slippery in his sweaty palms. He rolled the sleeves of his kimono back and wiped his hands on the white underrobe.

“Let me,” Koutarou said as he stepped closer.

“As if you know how to do it.”

Tetsurou didn’t have to look up to know the boy was pouting. But he knew he had a point. Koutarou was the Emperor’s son, after all. He didn’t have to dress himself in formal clothes till he entered the Academy.

“Did you forget the hanabata incident in our first year? Or when the Royal Court was visiting a few months after the start of our first year here? Or when—”

“Okay, okay, stop. Just shut up.”

Tetsurou giggled. _Giggled_. It was the nerves, damn it. Kou patted his back, aiming for reassurance, but it didn’t help much.

“Just let me try,” he said and Tetsurou nodded.

Kou actually _did_ manage to tie his obi and it even looked fine, symmetrical and not crooked at all. The Otodani Academy’s formal uniform consisted of a black kimono and hakama, and a white haori with golden chrysanthemums. It stood in stark contrast against the crimson and black kimono of the everyday uniform. Students were allowed to dress in almost anything as long as it was in the colors of the Academy, gold reserved only for formal occasions.

Tetsurou didn’t even know why he was this nervous, he had nothing to be nervous about, he was perfectly aware of this, yet the tightness in his chest was getting harder and harder to ignore. It’s been exactly a week since the wavelength examination but he didn’t get any random bursts of anxiety before today.

They arrived with a few minutes to spare. Most of their grade was already there, standing in small groups of three or four. The air was heavy, anxiety oozing off most of the students, quite literally in the case of a few mages. There was a girl who was glowing slightly, head hung in embarrassment, a boy whose hair rivaled Tetsurou’s on a bad day and another classmate who was floating a few centimeters off the ground.

When Professor Naoi arrived, Koutarou bid him farewell and he joined a fighter classmate, Shirofuku Yukie because as representatives of their grade the two of them had to lead the group. The two fifth years representatives arrived with the Professor . Tetsurou turned to look for Akaashi, but the boy was nowhere to be found. In his place there was a fighter girl Tetsurou didn’t personally know. He didn’t hear about any injuries or accidents and he saw the fifth year boy last night so he couldn’t be sick which only meant one thing: he’s participating in the ceremony. Akaashi Keiji, one of the most promising fighter in his grade was a match for one of the mages. The sixth years were already short on mages. Tetsurou hoped no one would notice this before the start of the ceremony.

Without any prompting all students shuffled themselves into alphabetical order. Tetsurou was lucky he was on friendly terms with both of his alphabet neighbors, Kai and Konoha.

A black sparrow flew through the grounds and perked itself on Professor Naoi’s shoulders. That was their clue to start walking towards the Main Castle. They were headed to the sixth floor which was only used for the matching ceremony itself. It was more of a ritual than a celebration of sorts and for the past week they had to memorize the short oath that completed each matching and bound the two matched students together for a year. That’s what being seiryo meant: bonded partners, mages and fighters as equals. The reality of it depended on the two people involved. Some became lifelong partners, a few became lovers, and some never saw each other again after graduation. Unusual friendships were often born out of seiryo matchings, casual friends became closer friends, but people rarely entered a romantic relationship with their seiryo. It happened only a couple of times every year.

The whole school was required to attend along with the entire staff and there were always some prominent members of the society as guest attendants. This time they were the Emperor’s wife and her brother—Koutarou’s mother and uncle—and Ambassador Haiba Masayoshi and his family. The Principal of Otodani’s sister school in Osaka was also present.

The Academy’s teaching staff and the guests were sitting on a dais and the students were standing in front of it. The front few rows were reserved for the sixth years and the lower years who were matched when there were cross-grade matchings. This year it was three students; besides Akaashi the other two were mages. Not everyone bothered to get to know the lower years but Tetsurou assumed most would catch up with the bad news soon enough: four fighters wouldn’t get matched this year.

Dean Nekomata opened the matching ceremony with a short speech and after the introduction of the guests Professor Naoi called the first student to be matched: “Aizawa Chisato.”

The girl almost tripped when she stepped on the small stage and sat down on the pillow on the left, designated for mages. It seemed like the entire sixth year collectively held their breath before the second name was called. Aizawa was dating a fighter in their year, Miyanoshita Eri but she on the other hand was expected to be matched with her cousin.

“Numai Kazuma.”

As far as Tetsurou knew they didn’t even know each other. If the first matching was this unexpected he couldn’t even imagine who would be matched up with the three underclassmen. He tried to sneak glances to the underclassmen but they were standing on the other side so it was no small feat. Akaashi was staring ahead with a poker face, the short girl lifted her weight from one leg to the other and looked like she was ready to throw up and the other mage… the other mage stood still with an expression like he’d rather be anywhere but there, with the sixth years. Tetsurou tried not to stare much.

The first seiryo pair’s magical oath went without a hitch. Aizawa’s magic was sparkly blue, falling around the two of them softly, filling the air with the smell of summer rain. Aizawa and Numai stepped down the stage together and parted with a small smile. The next person to be called was Ootaki Mako and she was indeed matched with her cousin, Miyanoshita, as expected. Ootaki’s magic was bright orange and smelled of summer heat and seawater.

When Kai was called, Tetsurou started to get even more nervous than he was before. Kai’s partner was Inuoka Suzu, a girl Tetsurou vaguely knew. He was more familiar with her overly energetic little brother, a fourth year fighter.

He was next.

“Kuroo Tetsurou.”

Tetsurou’s gaze met with Koutarou’s and they both nodded. They were waiting for this for months. He walked to the stage and sat on the pillow on the right side. _This is it,_ he thought.

“Kozume Kenma.”

Tetsurou froze. In a split second Koutarou looked so heartbroken it hurt to look at him. He tore his gaze away from his best friend to look at the mage boy. There was no surprise on his face which meant he knew about it beforehand. The underclassmen knew about the matching results beforehand.

But how did this happen? Was it a mistake? How could they have a higher percentage than what he has with Kou? _How?_ Or did somebody interfere?

He felt the world turn upside down. Everything slowed down, so Tetsurou had enough time to observe the boy. He was a fifth year, he saw him a lot on the grounds either alone or sometimes with Akaashi. They had never talked before.

He had to do it. No matter the reason he just couldn’t stop the ceremony and make a scene. He had to go with the flow and get on with the bonding.

When the boy sat down in front of him, Tetsurou couldn’t look away from his face. It was only impassive at the first glance; there was curiosity, a little anxiety and determination in his gaze. Tetsurou wiped his hands on the sleeves of his underrobe and held out his hands, palms up. Physical touch was required for the bonding magic to work, but how each pair touched was up to the mage. The boy— _Kozume Kenma_ , he reminded himself, _his name was Kozume Kenma_ —put his palms on Tetsurou’s at first then turned both of their hands palms down and laced their fingers together.

Kozume let his magic engulf them. It was breathtaking. It was like meteor showers, soft golden sparkles, the same color as his eyes. The mage boy’s hair fluffed up and glowed golden. He looked ethereal and utterly gorgeous. Tetsurou felt warm in his chest, warm like curling up with a good book under a kotatsu, warm like summer night stargazing, warm like watching a loved one laugh.

 

 

 

 

Kozume looked at him pointedly.

_Oh. The oath._

Tetsurou took a deep breath. He can’t mess it up now.

“I, Kuroo Tetsurou, do solemnly swear that I will support and respect Kozume Kenma as my seiryo, do no harm or harbor any ill intent towards him, train and fight to my best efforts, as equal partners, till the end of this year.”

He didn’t mess it up. That was good. Tetsurou didn’t know how the oath could be redone or if they could get a rematch, but intentionally meddling with a magic ritual was never smart.

Kozume’s magic washed over him; a gentle, fuzzy feeling. Tetsurou shivered. One part of him wanted to grab onto this warmth and wrap it around himself and the other part of him wanted to scream. He was supposed to be seiryo with Koutarou, to share a magical bond with him, to train as a fighter pair, especially now with the Tournament, and the school robbed him of this.

They stood up at the same time. Tetsurou felt Kozume’s gaze on him, but he looked away, searching for Kou instead. His best friend was staring ahead, face impassive, stance tense, as if he was forcing himself to stay upright and perfectly still, which Tetsurou knew he was actually doing. Being the son of the Emperor meant he couldn’t show weakness in public, especially not in front of the entire school and and Ambassador.

He saw Bandou looking at Kou worriedly, so he sent a silent prayer to them to help him if possible. He went to stand beside Kai and Kozume followed him. Tetsurou didn’t even want to look at him. He knew it’s not the boy’s fault he didn’t get matched with Kou, but it was hard to look at him, especially after he felt his magic inside him. Tetsurou suppressed a shiver. Being this kind of spell cast on him was an intimate thing. Even though the bond lasted only till the end of the school year, it still weaved their magical wavelength together, attuning them to each other.

He didn’t pay attention who got called after Konoha for his seiryo, he only looked up when Komi got matched. Sarukui’s magic sizzled in the air, making the students closest to the stage jump.

Tetsurou tried to catch Koutarou’s eyes but he was staring stubbornly ahead, shoulders even more tense. Who was going to be Kou’s seiryo if not him? The possibilities were too many to guess.

The underclassman mage girl, Suzumeda Kaori got matched with Shirofuku Yukie. The girl’s magic was yellow and smelled sweet and flowery, sort of familiar, but Tetsurou wasn’t good with identifying flower scents.

Soon after them Daishou got matched with Watanabe Mika, his ex girlfriend. His magic was flashy, dark green with streaks of brown in it and smelled like a forest right after a rainstorm.

There wasn’t much noise in the room beforehand, but everyone fell silent when Professor Naoi skipped a name. Tetsurou wasn’t that much of a jerk to stare at the poor boy, but he kind of wanted to.

Then Professor Naoi skipped over the next fighter yet again, and called Bandou’s name. Tetsurou dared a glance at them. The fighter girl’s shoulders were shaking, Bandou hurried to get to the stage with shock frozen on their face and Koutarou was still looking straight ahead. Tetsurou knew Kou would have wanted to help, to console the girl, but he couldn’t. He glanced at the other mages: besides Kou there were only two of them left. One girl looked bored and the other ready to pass out. All fighters seemed to be on the verge of crying; two of them wouldn’t get matched this year.

One of the fighters left was Yaku; he wasn’t faring that well either.

The next fighter almost run the the stage to do the seiryo bonding ritual with Bandou. Their magic was a soft white and devoid of scent. Tetsurou didn’t know enough about magical cores to understand what that meant, what he did know was when he was the recipient of bonding magic his other senses were dulled so that’s the reason why he didn’t know what Kozume’s magic smelled like. Or Koutarou’s, for that matter.

The room quieted again when Kou’s name was called.

He didn’t want any of the fighters to bond with him, Tetsurou thought. Koutarou walked to the stage the way long years of etiquette classes taught him: swift and elegant, not one movement wasted. It was so unlike him it threw Tetsurou off. He glanced at Kou’s family: both of them were smiling softly.

“Akaashi Keiji.”

Tetsurou forgot Akaashi was even there. Heads snapped to the boy as he walked to the stage. A part of Tetsurou admired his calm, but the majority of him hated, even loathed to see Kou bonding with somebody else than him.

Koutarou put his palms up and Akaashi rested his hands on it, but they didn’t do anything else. With a loud pop Kou’s magic filled most of the room. It was bright purple and had a soft, barely there flowery scent. They were perfectly in sync when they said the oath.

Traditionally it was the mage who made the oath first, but for the last few years the school reworked the ritual so both parties said it at the same time. Tetsurou suspected there was a different kind of security measure administered, something more subtle than making the mages say “do no harm” first so their magic were bound to their seiryo, and they couldn’t let it loose, even as an accident.

Koutarou looked powerful. There were a few mages whose power was clearly showcased by the bonding ritual, like Daishou or Kozume, but Kou’s was another level. He looked dangerous. Not threatening, but someone who could, for example, win the Tournament.

They left the stage together and coincidentally Kou was able to stand right behind Tetsurou, but he didn’t say anything, or showed any indication that he was unsatisfied with the matching.

The tension in the room was palpable. There were two mages left and four fighters. One of them was Yaku. Neither of the matched fighters were him. Tetsurou’s heart was aching for him. Getting a wrong match was still better than getting no seiryo. He couldn’t even imagine how the boy must have felt.

When the last bonding was done, Professor Naoi didn’t sit down.

“Yaku Morisuke.”

People started whispering. There were no unbonded mages, why was Yaku called to the stage—that’s what everyone was asking. Tetsurou had no idea, but he wanted to know.

Yaku looked like somebody punched him in the gut, but he obediently climbed to the stage and sat down on the fighters’ pillow.

“Haiba Lev.”

Tetsurou’s gaze immediately snapped to Ambassador Haiba and his family. The Ambassador didn’t look surprised at all, but his son did. Tetsurou saw him open his mouth, but his sister tugged on his sleeves and whispered something to him, at which the boy beamed and walked to the stage and plopped down in front of Yaku.

When did he even do the wavelength examination? How did he even get matched? Especially to Yaku?

When Yaku put his hand in the air between them his hands visibly trembled. Lev was still beaming when he let his magic surround them. His magic was foreign, both in the sense of how it looked and how it must have come from his mother. It was green-blue crystals surrounding Lev in a vaguely wing shape that expanded and wrapped around Yaku. It didn’t smell much of anything either. By the end of the bonding ritual Yaku was flushed, but Tetsurou had an inkling it was not from embarrassment. Bonding with this kind of foreign magic must have been even more intimate.

Dean Nekomata closed the ceremony with a short speech. When he sat down the entire hall erupted with chatter. Tetsurou turned around and stepped right next to Koutarou.

“Kou, we have to go and—”

“Not now, Tetsu,” Koutarou said, cutting him off right when he was about to suggest they take the matching results up with the matching committee.

“But what if it was a mistake? The matching?”

“It wasn’t.” Tetsurou wasn’t sure why Kou said that. Did he think people were listening to their conversation or did he care about what Akaashi thought? He wasn’t aware the two knew each other at all.

_Did he…?_ Did Koutarou really think it’s a decision against him? Was he right? Did someone from the committee deliberately alter their results? Was it a sabotage attempt?

“I need to go,” Koutarou said. “Alone.”

Tetsurou watched him join his family at the dais.

 

 

 

Tetsurou absolutely despised waiting, yet there he was, pacing in front of Dean Nekomata’s office door, waiting for him to come back from the official business he was assigned after the ceremony.

Tetsurou needed answers about his matching. Koutarou disappeared right after the ceremony. He didn’t stick around to talk to Akaashi or Kozume either, he didn’t even care about changing, he sneaked into the teacher’s ward right in his formal uniform. Maybe it was even fitting, he thought. He was probably waiting for Nekomata for at least an hour, he thought he was going to go crazy if the Dean didn’t show up soon.

Instead of Nekomata it was Professor Naoi who he met with.

“You shouldn’t be here,” Naoi said, frowning at him. Tetsurou didn’t really care about that. Not at all and definitely not right now.

“I’m here to speak with Dean Nekomata about the matchings.”

The Professor sighed, quite loudly.

“We were expecting one of you, but we guessed the day would be tomorrow.”

_What exactly did he mean by that?_

“Look, Kuroo-kun,” he said with a long-suffering expression. “There was no mistake made in the matchings. While your and Bokuto-kun’s wavelength compatibility rate is extremely high, his with Akaashi-kun and yours with Kozume-kun are even higher.”

_Even higher? How was that possible?_

“We didn’t quite believe it at first, so we had to bring Akaashi and Kozume in again to do another test, but it was not a glitch: the rates are 96% which is so high we had to investigate if you are related. If Bokuto-kun requests it tomorrow you can take a look at the examination results, but you need to leave now.”

Tetsurou went back to the dorms sulking. He tried to get into the mage dorms, but he was kicked out immediately. He couldn’t even get to know if Kou was back or still out with his family.

He saw Yaku at the grounds but he didn’t look like he wanted to talk to anyone. Tetsurou didn’t blame him.

**Author's Note:**

> The school's name, Otodani (音谷) is made up of the first kanji of Nekoma ("ne") and the second kanji of Fukuroudani ("dani"). Oto (音) means sound, so the kanji mashup means "valley of sounds".
> 
> The word seiryo (斉侶) doesn't exist, I made it up. It means "equal companion".
> 
> I modeled the school after two castles. The place where it's in, Mt Fukuzawa has a castle that's in ruins ([here's](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JnmR1uBJSIg) a drone video of the place and its history) and the actual castle is modeled after the [Himeji Castle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nOrRjmxUU_U), but the school is smaller.


End file.
